My research work bridges and contributes to several domains, including creativity and design, information science, human-computer interaction, information design, sensemaking and cognitive science. I’m also active as reviewer of several journals and conferences.
Resources
MapCI Cards (Mapping Complex Information Cards) are a collection of 40 questions that can help designers gather, analyze, and organize content when designing information to develop diagrams, visual explanations, information graphics, and instructions.
Learn more about this tool and order your deck!
Books & Chapters
Pontis, S. & Babwahsingh, M. 2023 Information Design Unbound: Key Concepts and Skills for Making Sense in a Changing World. Bloomsbury Visual Arts, UK.
Pontis, S. 2022. Comprender la investigación de campo: Una guía práctica para diseñadores de información. 1.ª ed. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico.
Remington, R. & Pontis, S. 2021. Communicating Knowledge Visually: Will Burtin’s Scientific Approach to Information Design. RIT Press, US.
Pontis, S. 2019. Consistent, deliberate use of visual materials to enhance the classroom experience. In: Caviglioli, O. Dual Coding With Teachers, John Catt Publication, UK., 212-213.
Pontis, S. 2018. Making Sense of Field Research: A Practical Guide for Information Designers. Routledge, UK.
Reviewer & Scientific Programme Committee member
2017 – present. Information Design Journal (IDJ). John Benjamins Publishing Company
2015 – 2021. Studies in Media and Communication. Redfame Publishing
2014 – present. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST)
2013 – present. Schematic Mapping Workshop 2014. Wivenhoe House Hotel, University of Essex, UK
2011 – 2018. DESIGNA. Universidade Da Veira Interior. Portugal
2011 – 2018. CIDAG. ISEC – Higher Institute for Education and Science and IPT – Polytechnic Institute of Tomar. Portugal.
My PhD Thesis
Pontis, S.V. (2012) Guidelines for Conceptual Design to Assist Diagram Creators in Information Design Practice. University of the Arts London, UK.
Interviews & Coverage
Podcast interview on Design Research for Escuela de Arte y Superior de Diseño de Alcoy (España).
La investigación en el diseño gráfico (Spanish) by Neus Hidalgo (2022)
Panelist at UnLonely Symposium 3 (New York City, 2019). Moving from Awareness to Solutions. Innovative Solutions for Addressing Loneliness Throughout Our Communities. The Foundation for Art & Healing.
Trust the Qualitative: An interview with Sheila Pontis about Field Research by Raya Ward (2019) Princeton Correspondents on Undergraduate Research (PCUR), Princeton University.
Sheila Pontis’s Advice to Designers: ‘Be Curious’ by Gnanaseharan, M. (2019). U.S.1 Princeton Newspaper, NJ.
Princeton’s new TigerWell initiative shines a light on student health and wellbeing by Labrecque, J. (2019). University Advancement, Princeton University.
Bye, Bye, Loneliness by Yaffe, D. (2018). Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW)
Pontis, S. (2014, November) Design Thinking. By G Sankaranarayanan. Tamil Nadu, India: Younomy Connecting the dots. Online (Email Interview)
Journal Articles (Peer-reviewed)
Pontis, S. & Salerno, G.L. (Submitted). Understanding scientific creativity criteria: Biologists’ assessments of PhD students’ creative products using the CAT.
Marquardt, M. & Pontis, S. 2024. A Mixed-Methods, Multimedia Pilot Study to Investigate Sleep Irregularity Determinants Among Undergraduate Students. American Journal of Health Promotion.
https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171241240818
Pontis, S., Vasquez, C. & Salerno, G.L. 2024 (Available online December 2023). Creative quality matters: Teaching early-career scientists to think in multiple directions. Thinking Skills and Creativity Journal. Volume 51, 101451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101451
Oh, H. & Pontis, S. 2023. Understanding individuals with spinal cord injury’s self-care practices: a technology probe study to promote pressure relief adherence. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2023.2293876
Marquardt, M. & Pontis, S. May 2023. 0678 Consequences of following the herd: Perceptions drive a vicious cycle of poor student sleep habits at an elite university, Sleep, Volume 46, Issue Supplement_1, Page A298, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad077.0678
Pontis, S. 2021. Understanding the impact of supporting conceptual information design: Structure, Externalizations and Flexibility Matter. Information Design Journal (IDJ), 1-21.
Pontis, S. & van der Waarde, K. Summer 2020. Looking for alternatives. Challenging assumptions in design education. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation. Volume 6, Issue 2, 228-253.
Pontis, S. 2019. Transforming Research into Action with Visualizations: Understanding barriers between field research and design education. In: Murdoch-Kitt, K., & Sosa-Tzec, O. Decipher, Vol. 1. Dialectic, AIGA, 258-278.
Pontis, S. 2017. Understanding patterns of change and growth in information graphics. In Past, Present, Future: 25 Years of Infographics. What’s Next? Malofiej 1993-2017. Society for News Design [SND-E], 45-47.
Greifeneder, E., Pontis, S., Blandford, A., Attalla, H., Neal, D. and Schlebbe, K. 2017. Researchers’ attitudes toward the use of social networking sites. Journal of Documentation (JD), 74(1), 119-136.
Kodagoda, N., Pontis, S., Simmie, D., Attfield, S., Wong, W., Blandford, A. and Hankin, C. 2016. Using Machine Learning to Infer Reasoning Provenance from User Interaction Log Data: Based on the Data/Frame Theory of Sensemaking. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making (JCEDM) – Special Issue on Naturalistic Decision Making
Pontis, S. and Babwahsingh, M. 2016. Improving information design practice: A closer look at conceptual design methods. Information Design Journal (IDJ), 22(3), 249–265.
Pontis, S. and Babwahsingh, M. 2016. Start with the basics: Understanding before doing. In: VisionPlus 2015 Conference: Information+Design=Performance Proceedings (IIID, IDA.Birmingham, England), 90-102.
Pontis, S., Greifeneder, E., Attalla, H., Neal, D. and Blandford, A. 2015. Keeping up-to-date: An Academic Researcher’s Information Journey. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST) – Print version: Volume 68, Issue 1, January 2017, 22–35.
Pontis, S., Kefalidou, G., Blandford, A., Forth, J., Makri, S., Sharples, S., Wiggins, G. and Woods, M. 2015. Academics’ responses to encountered information: context matters. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), 67(8), 1883-1903.
Pontis, S. and Blandford, A. 2015. Understanding “influence”: An empirical test of the Data-Frame theory of Sensemaking. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), 67(4), 841–858.
Pontis, S. and Blandford, A. 2015. Understanding “influence”: An exploratory study of academics’ process of knowledge construction through iterative and interactive information seeking. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), 66(8), 1576-1593.
Pontis, S. 2014. A guided approach to conceptual design in the information design process. Information Design Journal (IDJ), 21(2), 115-128.
Pontis, S., 2012. Metascience: a paradigm for postgraduate communication design research. Iridescent: Icograda Journal of Design Research, 2(1), pp.30-51.
Pontis, S., 2010. De intuición a teoría. Caso de estudio: el mapa diagramático del metro de Londres (From intuition to theory. Case study: the London underground diagrammatic map) Quadra. Revista de diseño y comunicación visual, 5, pp.25-34. Mexico: Universidad de Guadalajara.
Pontis, S., 2009. Improving the visual communication of complex information in the health sector. Touchpoint Issue 2, Service Design Journal, 1(2), p.115.
Pontis, S., 2009. Diseño gráfico: un novel objeto de investigación. Caso de estudio: el proceso de diseño (Graphic Design: A Novel Research Object. Case study: Design Process). Iconofacto. Revista de la Escuela de Arquitectura y Diseño, 5(6), pp.9-18. Medellín (Colombia): Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.
Conference Papers (Peer-reviewed), Posters & Presentations
Marquardt, M. and Pontis, S. 2023. Consequences of Following the Herd: Perceptions Drive a Vicious Cycle of Poor Student Sleep Habits at an Elite University (Poster). SLEEP 2023. Indianapolis, IN, 3-7 June 2023.
Pontis, S. and Babwahsingh, M. 2015. Start with the basics: Understanding before doing. In: Visual Plus 2015 Conference: Information+Design=Performance – IIID, IDA. Birmingham, England, 3-4 September 2015.
Pontis, S. and Babwahsingh, M. 2013. Communicating complexity and simplicity: Rediscovering the fundamentals of information design. 2CO COmmunicating COmplexity. Alghero, Sardinia, Italy, 25-26 October 2013, pp.244-61
Pontis, S. 2012. Behind-The-Scenes of Information Design [Abstract] 18-23 March. In: ‘Show, Don’t Tell.’ Malofiej International Conference – 20th Edition. University of Navarra, Spain.
Pontis, S., 2011. The role of design: yesterday and today. In: A Esperanca Projectual. Book of Proceedings DESIGNA 2011, 1stInternational Conference on Design in the University of Beira Interior. Covilhã, Portugal 25-26 November 2011. pp.63-71.
Fathulla, K., Warren, S. and Pontis, S., 2011. A framework for analysing diagrams [Abstract] In: Visual Methods Conference Book of proceedings, Open University. 2nd International Visual Methods Conference. Milton Keynes, UK. 13-15 September 2011
Pontis, S., 2010. Methodological approaches for diagramming information. In: Higher Institute for Education and Science and Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, 1st International Conference on Design and Graphic Printing (CIDAG). Lisbon, Portugal 27-29 October 2010. pp.1-10.
Pontis, S., 2009. Design method for mapping complex information (MapCI) [Abstract] In: Visual Methods Conference Book of proceedings, University of Leeds 1st International Visual Methods Conference. Leeds, UK. 15-17 September 2009.
Pontis, S. and Del Hoyo Arjona, J., 2008. La esquematica, ciencia de la visualizacion del dato como la interficie proxima del conocimiento (The schematic, the science of data visualisation, as a future connection of knowledge). In: 3er Simposio Iberoamericano en comunicacion del conocimiento y conferencias (CCC), 7ma Conferencia Iberoamericana en Sistemas, Cibernetica e Informotica (CISCI), 2008. Orlando, Florida, US., 29 June – 2 July 2008, pp.1-5.
Pontis, S. and Del Hoyo Arjona, J., 2008. Graphic matrix for specific data visualisation projects. Proposal of graphic resources and visual elements that for their function could be considered as the primary elements of a matrix. In: Books of proceedings. IADIS International conference on computer graphics and visualization (CGV). Amsterdam, Holland 24-26 July 2008. pp.221-26.
Pontis, S., 2007. La historia de la esquemática en la visualización de datos. In MediaLab Prado, 1st Visualizar: conference and workshop. Madrid, Spain 11-28 November 2007. Available at: http://www.medialab-prado.es/mmedia/965 [Accessed 13 September 2012] Spanish / English
Online Journals
Pontis, S., 2011. Qué es el diseño de información (What is Information Design?) [Online article] Foroalfa. Digital design publication. Available at: http://foroalfa.org/articulos/que-es-el-diseno-de-informacion [Accessed 13 September 2012]
Pontis, S., 2010. Para qué sirve investigar en diseño (What is the purpose of design research?) [Online article] Foroalfa. Digital design publication. Available at: http://foroalfa.org/es/articulo/237/Para_que_sirve_investigar_en_diseno [Accessed 13 September 2012]
Pontis, S., 2009. Qué es y qué implica la investigación en diseño (What is Research on Design and Why is it Relevant?) [Online article] Foroalfa. Digital design publication. (ISSN 1851-5606) Available at: [http://foroalfa.org/articulos/que-es-y-que-implica-la-investigacion-en-diseno[/embed] [Accessed 28 May 2014]
Reviews
Pontis, S., 2013. The Functional Art: The book. The Functional Art: An introduction to information graphics and visualization by Alberto Cairo. US: New Riders
Pontis, S., 2009. The other, i am that other, i am you... MA Transnational Arts. TrAIN Research Centre. University of the Arts London
Sheila Pontis 
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